The Boston Celtics are back in the NBA Finals for the second time in three years.
The Celtics defeated the Indiana Pacers 105-102 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday night to book a spot in the championship game. Boston was down by as many as nine points in the fourth quarter but stormed back to score the final seven points of the game to win the series for the 25th time in NBA Conference Finals history.
Boston will face either the Dallas Mavericks or Minnesota Timberwolves in a battle for Banner 18. Dallas enters Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday night with a 3-0 record and a chance to complete the sweep.
The Celtics will be well rested before Game 1 of the NBA Finals, which will be held at TD Garden on Thursday, June 6 at 8:30 pm ET. The full Finals schedule can be found here.
This will be Boston's fourth NBA Finals appearance and the first since 2008, and their 23rd in franchise history. Only the Los Angeles Lakers (32) have more appearances.
As the NBA's oldest franchise looks to add another record to its illustrious resume, here are some facts to know about the Celtics' NBA Finals run.
- Boston's 17 NBA championships are tied with the Lakers for the most in league history.
- The Celtics won 11 of 13 championships between 1957 and 1969, including eight consecutive championships from 1959-1966.
- The Celtics have a 79-56 career record and a 17-5 series record in the NBA Finals.
- Boston is 29-36 on the road in the Finals and 50-20 at home.
- Celtics legend Bill Russell holds the record for most NBA championships with 11.
- Russell is the most points scored in NBA Finals history by Celtics players with 1,151, eight more than second-place Sam Jones.
- John Havlicek is the Celtics' leading scorer in an NBA Finals, scoring 43 points against the Lakers in 1969.
- Paul Pierce (2008), Larry Bird (1984, 1986), Cedric Maxwell (1981), JoJo White (1976) and John Havlicek (1974) are the Celtics players to win Finals MVP since the NBA began handing out the award in 1969.
- Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum averaged 23.5 and 21.5 points per game, respectively, in Boston's 2022 Finals win against the Golden State Warriors.
